EMECO HOLDINGS LIMITED

Growth stocks can make for ­wonderful investments. Which is why so many people get caught looking for the next big growth industry. Here’s the interesting part, though. The best growth stocks are often not in rapidly growing sectors.

Heavy equipment rental group Emeco said it swung to a full-year loss of $21.6 million from the year-earlier profit of $28.5 million, hurt by the slump in the mining boom. The company’s shares closed 2.3 per cent lower on Thursday.

The end of the mining boom is casting a long shadow over the interim profit reporting season – but it’s not just miners and mining services firms that are feeling the pain. The impact on consumers and business shouldn’t be understated and the closer you get to the mining sector, the worse the impact is.

Heavy equipment rental group Emeco Holdings has added its name to the list of mining services companies forecasting improvement in the second half after issuing its third profit warning in seven months.

The debt feeding frenzy sparked by Lloyds’ exit from Australia shows little sign of petering out as buyers switch their attention to Westpac in the hope the Australian banking giant will shed some of its new acquisitions.

The acquisition of Chile-based Servigrut, a supplier of heavy equipment lifting, transportation and ancillary site services to the mining and industrial markets, could reinvigorate Austin Engineering’s depressed share price.

Emeco is priced for an equity raising, though ‘an exit from the loss-making Indonesian business could prove a significant catalyst, pushing net debt/EBITDA back within covenant levels’, Bell Potter warns.

Earthmoving equipment company Emeco hasfessed up to receiving a couple of takeover approaches recently, but it’s also thought to have attracted at least one distressed debt fund which has run the numbers on the company.

Major shareholder First Samuel has thrown its support behind heavy equipment rental group Emeco Holdings’ decision not to disclose initial proposals from two private equity firms for the mining services company.

With one week left to go in the 2013 profit reporting season, there is a big gap opening up between the winners and losers. One theme that has become obvious over the past three weeks is that the investor relations teams at public companies have drilled chief executives not to be at all adventurous when it comes to talking about future prospects.

An impressive result from Titan Energy Services has won the company plenty of fans, including Wilson HTM analysts, who have maintained their buy recommendation and upped their share price target from $2.20 to $2.60.

The political consensus is Tony Abbott will not only win the election on September 14, but that he will do so in a landslide that will ensure the Coalition of two or more parliamentary terms. I wouldn’t bet on that longevity.

Nearly a year after Martin Ferguson called the end of the resources boom, contractors are finally feeling the pain. Order books have been decimated and competition between service providers has got much tougher as the big mining and energy companies clamp down on costs.

NRW Holdings, which provides earthworks, drill and blasting and civil construction services, has suffered from the downturn resources sector, but some analysts are nevertheless getting bullish on the stock.

Accounting software firm MYOB will on Monday launch a $125 million listed note offer as the company’s owner, Bain Capital, seeks new funds to reduce debt and create a pool of capital for the company for potential acquisitions following its recent product launch.

Morningstar has changed its recommendation on Emeco Holdings to “buy” from “accumulate” after the company’s share price fell below $1.00. Recent worries that the heavy earth-moving equipment supplier would miss 2011-12 consensus expectations have weighed on the stock. Emeco holds leading positions in equipment rental markets in Australia and Indonesia with the mining sector a key focus.

Gunns’s plan to rebrand and move its Tasmanian headquarters across the Bass Strait is a logical step but the company may not have a future anywhere if it cannot get its $2.3 billion pulp mill plan off the ground.

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04 January 2012 | PAGE 32 | Equiteers must get the exit stage right

Bypassing the rush for customs, the nation’s private equiteers boarded their Gulfstream jets and flew off to holidays on their private tropical islands. There, they drank cocktails on the beach, feasted on lavish buffets, and took refreshing swims in cerulean waters.

With commodity prices in steady decline over the past few months, mining services stocks have lost some of their shine, but analysts believe concerns may be overdone and valuations in some stocks are looking attractive.

Before the Bell – All you need to know about overnight trading and what’s in store for the local session ■ Plutonium in soil near Fukushima ■ Dow slips 0.2pc ■ SPI futures up 4 points ■ Commodities mixed

Small-cap industrials are looking slightly expensive compared with their larger peers, but the junior end of the market could appeal to dividend-seeking investors as nearly half of the sector has lifted or started paying dividends.

Some small mining contractors could be facing a correction as their stocks hover close to more than one-year highs despite the earnings impact from the Queensland floods – prompting questions about whether the risks are adequately reflected in current market prices.

Robust commodities prices and improving confidence has helped shares in mining services group Emeco to be fetching close to two-year highs, as the company announced it would deliver an impressive first half performance profit.

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06 October 2010 | PAGE 33 | Time for some coffee and a doughnut

The slightly weaker than expected retail sales data on Tuesday and worries about future rate hikes may have dragged down consumer stocks, but experts agree that this could be a good time to look at select opportunities in the sector.

Earth-moving equipment hire company Emeco Holdings admitted the operating environment was challenging for the 2010 financial year and blamed its revenue drop on lower average rental fleet utilisation. It remains encouraged by increased activity in the second half of the year with customers again ramping up production.

Earth-moving equipment company Emeco Holdings will exit the civil infrastructure market and focus solely on mining as it moves to strengthen its balance sheet before pursuing possible growth opportunities.

CEO Keith Gordon says Emeco will exit its civil infrastructure business – taking impairment charges of $37.5 million – as it focuses on mining for growth and considers capital management opportunities.

The latest earnings results reinforce the belief that small cap companies are on track to deliver robust top-line growth in 2010-11, if not beyond, with the magnitude of positive surprises outweighing disappointments.